Saturday, November 29, 2008

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Day! We had a great day visiting with friends and family. We started off the day by sleeping in (always a treat!), then made our way to the Bakers' house to visit. Then we headed off to Blair and Amy's house, where they were hosting Thanksgiving dinner for my family (the Sharpes) and Blair's family (the Brennans). The Sharpes and Brennans go way back, the kids grew up together and we used to meet up in Austin for Thanksgiving every year until the Brennans moved to Virginia. Now they are back in Texas so we started up the tradition again. We had some new additions this year, Blair and I have both gotten married since we last had Thanksgiving together; Amy's best friend Travis also joined us; and my grandfather Faulk drove up from Jacksonville. Jennye and Chad are amazing cooks, we left stuffed!Here are some pictures:

Have you heard about the bird?

And of course the best part about Thanksgiving is the food! This year I made sweet potato casserole as well as spinach artichoke dip. (However, the spinach artichoke dip was so delicious it didn't quite make it to Thanksgiving dinner.) I also made a chocolate pecan pie; Monika (of sushiandchocolate.com) gave me the recipe a few years ago and it has become a favorite.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

My French professor told us one time that you know you are fluent in a language when you dream in it. So what does it mean when I dreamed that I was fluent in Spanish? I carried on a whole conversation with someone in my dream, with only occasionally getting lost for words and having to use English to explain what I needed to say.

I have been around Spanish a lot, but I took French in high school and Italian in college. I even tried to recite a series of numbers to one of our Spanish-speaking janitors at work the other day and she just kind of laughed at me.

Oddly enough, this made me remember when I was in Italy with my class (at the Vatican in fact) and a British nun/nurse thought I spoke Italian fluently and kept insisting that I translate for an Italian man suffering stomach pains. I kept trying to tell her that my Italian was limited to my phrase book, but she just didn't believe me.

1. I woke up at 3am because my alarm went off (whoops). 2. I got up earlier than I thought I would (8am). 3. I worked out at the Y. 4. I went to the grocery store. 5. Our friend Elliot came over so Michael could help him with his computer. 6. I took a nap with Buster. 7. I talked to my mom on the phone. 8. I made feta stuffed chicken, roasted garlic pasta and sauteed veggies for dinner.

8 Things I Look Forward To:

1. Thanksgiving here in town with good family friends. 2. This weekend, I am off work and plan on not doing much of anything. 3. Finishing the book I'm currently reading (The Joy Luck Club) and starting something new. 4. Decorating the apartment for Christmas. 5. Seeing my grandad when he comes up Thanksgiving weekend. 6. Holiday shopping. 7. Making tacos this weekend (ah, the little pleasures in life). 8. Christmas brunch.

8 Things on My Wishlist:

1. Bicycle 2. A house with a real-sized kitchen 3. New shoes for work 4. New clothing 5. Enough rest and relaxation over the holidays 6. A pedicure 7. A personal trainer 8. Clean & organized house

Sorry we haven't posted in a while but there is not a whole lot going on at the Baker household. Michael is still plugging away at school and I am already in my crazy time at work, which means long days and lots of them.

I have only been able to make it to boot camp once since the beginning of October, unfortunately. With me being sick, then my surgery and my crazy work schedule I just haven't been able to fit it in. I will try to go as much as I can over the holidays, but I also bought some new running shoes and have been running in the neighborhood as often as I can. I always feel guilty when I skimp on my workouts, but the truth is that all the running around I do at work probably makes up for it!

In other news, the holidays are just around the corner! I am already starting to think about gifts, music and we are making our plans with the families. We are staying in Dallas for Thanksgiving, probably eating with my parents and good family friends. Amy and Blair, who just got married last month, are hosting at their home. We will also plan on stopping by Michael's family's house because most of his extended family will be in town. And of course, we are already looking forward to Christmas brunch at the Four Seasons!

I hope everyone is well and is enjoying the beautiful weather! It's a great time to be outside.